In the news today …
October 31, 2008
Posted in Green News
- Green car needs greenbacks: The global credit crisis could delay production of South Africa’s Joule electric car as the manufacturing company, Optimal Energy, needs to raise more than $130-million dollars to build an assembly plant. [More].
- Please release me: A rare female whale shark being kept as an attraction in an aquarium in Sol Kerner’s recently opened Atlantis resort in Dubai (he also built SA’s Sun City megaresort) has provoked the ire of environmentalists and the public. A local newspaper has launched a “Free Sammy the Shark” campaign and a Facebook group has been set up calling for the shark’s release. [More]
MPs take up renewable energy cause
October 30, 2008
Posted in Renewable energy
Parliamentarians from a cross-section of political parties have formed a lobby group to try and get things moving in the renewable energy sector in South Africa. Calling itself eREACT (e parliament Renewable Energy Activists), its first move this week was to unveil a private members bill on feed-in tariffs.
Essentially, it would entail Eskom, the electricity utility, ensuring that private providers of renewable energy get a fixed tariff to feed energy into the grid for a fixed period of time.
The business community has reportedly been reluctant to invest in renewable energy because it could not get a guaranteed price per kWh for the electricity it produced.
“Hopefully our introducing this bill will be a wake up call to ministers who should be driving the renewables programme, to which they largely pay lip service,” said the group’s convener, Dr Ruth Rabinowitz of the Inkatha Freedom Party, in a statement.
Feed-in tariffs have had a huge impact on the uptake of renewable energy in countries where they have been implemented, she said. “This fosters entrepreneurship, creates jobs, offers certainty to the industry, encourages provision of energy other than conventional coal-fired for rural areas and helps clean up the environment.”
In South Africa, the National Energy Regulator (Nersa) has proposed the concept of a feed-in tariff for three years and has even drafted guidelines for it, she said. But, “at present there is no integrated vision or strategy to fast track development of a renewable energy industry in our country”.
Solar water heating should be routine and solar photovoltaic electricity generation should be incentivised, along with many other forms of alternative energy such as geothermal, biomass and biodiesel, said Rabinowitz.
The 2003 White Paper on Renewable Energy set a target of 10,000GWh hours by 2013. “At present we produce 53.8GWh from biofuels and 148.2GWH from other sources, a far cry from the recommended target in spite of our Cabinet approved Climate Mitigation Strategy,” she said.
“The recently adopted energy bill made scant mention of renewable energy, without targets or clarity on where responsibility for it would rest.”
According to the group, Trevor Manuel, the finance minister, has stated that he is not convinced of the economic case for large-scale renewable energy projects in South Africa. The focus, therefore, remains on nuclear and coal-fired power stations.
The case for solar thermal
There is convincing evidence, however, that the world’s best site for large-scale solar power generation is in the Northern Cape. Eskom has been looking into building a 100MW concentrated solar thermal power (CSTP) plant there, but appears to have put the project on hold.
A CSTP plant comprises a field of giant mirrors that track the sun and focus its rays onto a central focal point, known as a receiver. The receiver absorbs the radiation and transfers the heat to molten salt which is then used to generate steam which is used to drive turbines that generate electricity. Another type of plant entails parabolic mirrors. (More on CTSP)
Gareth Morgan of the Democratic Alliance says the greatest barrier to the establishment of concentrated solar thermal power in South Africa seems to be the cost of the technology. This manifests itself in the price of electricity generated from it.
But there are arguments that CSTP-generated electricity may already be competitive with South Africa’s peaking electricity price today, especially if it is supported with financing from carbon trading and tradable renewable energy certificates.
In a Sapa report, Howard Ramsden, CEO of Terra Power Solutions, was quoted as saying at the media briefing on the launch of the private members bill that the cost of establishing a solar power station was about R17-million a megawatt. The plant would need to sell its electricity at a minimum of 80 cents a kWh to break even. A similar figure applied to wind turbines. The current cost to consumers of Eskom power was 36 cents a kWh, but Eskom’s peak-usage gas turbine plants put out power at R2,80 a kWh, he was reported as saying.
“Encouraging CSTP would contribute to South Africa’s target of reversing its carbon emissions growth by 2020-2025. International climate change financing can be encouraged in developing the technology of CSTP, and South Africa can and should aim to gain from the renewable energy, in particular CSTP, investments being seen today. Such investments will increase massively in the future,” said Morgan.
Morgan said if the parliamentary schedule allowed, the bill – sponsored by Rabinowitz and supported by Lance Greyling of the Independent Democrats and Judy Chalmers of the ANC – would be tabled before Parliament closes ahead of next year’s election.
News briefs: Biofuels and ivory
October 30, 2008
Posted in Green News
- African governments need to prioritise the “new challenge” presented by biofuels as the continent’s arable land is increasingly being used to grow crops for biofuels instead of food, South Africa’s new president, Kgalema Motlanthe, reportedly told African leaders at the African Peer Review Forum in Benin over the weekend. [BuaNews] He said he did not oppose the production of biofuels. But in some cases the potential for cleaner energy was being put before considerations of widespread hunger and opportunities from other types of land use. He said biofuels projects should be located within broader land reform strategies that needed to be developed and driven by African governments and peoples themselves.
- The Namibian government sold 7.2 tons of ivory for $1.2 million in Tuesday’s auction – an average price of $164 a kilo, according to Reuters. The price was apparently much lower than experts had predicted – predictions had ranged from $300 to $800 a kilo, the report said. Nonetheless, The Namibian reports that the Namibian government was pleased with the money generated. About 2 tonnes of the stockpiled ivory was not sold because it was of poor quality, say reports. The money will be put into the Namibian environment ministry’s Game Product Trust Fund, which funds conservation work, the Namibian says. The next ivory auction will be in Botswana tomorrow. And the debate continues over whether such auctions will help elephant conservation or lead to more poaching.
Namibia first to auction ivory stockpile
October 28, 2008
Posted in Conservation
The first of Southern Africa’s legal ivory auctions will be held today in Windhoek, Namibia. Willem Wijnstekers, the secretary-general of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites), which sanctioned the auction, is in Namibia to oversee the sale. The country will sell nine tonnes of ivory.
Japan and China have been approved as buyers. Mr Wijnstekers will hold talks with Chinese and Japanese authorities, as well as traders, on the details of how Cites will monitor the ivory on its arrival in those countries and thereafter, said Cites in a statement.
Cites has stipulated that the proceeds of the sales must be used exclusively for elephant conservation and community development programmes within or next to elephant ranges. “The revenues are expected to boost the countries’ capacity to conserve biodiversity, strengthen enforcement controls and contribute to the livelihoods of the rural people in Southern Africa. All this without affecting negatively African and Asian elephant populations,” said the organisation.
The next auction will be of Botswana’s 44 tonnes on October 31. Then follows Zimbabwe’s four tonnes and South Africa’s 51 tonnes next week.
In a BuaNews report, South African National Parks (SANParks) said the sale of South Africa’s stockpiled ivory will benefit elephant research, conservation and community development. “There is no argument that this money will go a long way towards enhancing conservation research, boosting our enforcement capabilities and helping communities who share land with elephants,” said David Mabunda, the SANParks CEO.
According to BuaNews, the money will also improve conservation through the employment of additional game rangers, obtaining more vehicles, erecting elephant-proof fences where needed and the purchasing of equipment.
But some conservationists argue that legal ivory sales open the doors for laundering of illegal poached ivory. Although conservation efforts in southern and eastern Africa have been successful enough that elephants moved from vulnerable to near threatened on the latest IUCN Red List earlier this month, not all elephants in Africa are adequately protected from poaching, they argue.
The last legal sale was held in 1999, when Japan paid $5-million for almost 50 tonnes of stockpiled ivory. According to Traffic, a joint programme of the WWF and IUCN that monitors the trade in wildlife around the world, the illicit trade in ivory “declined over the next five years” after the 1999 one-off sale. “We hope a similar result is achieved this time,” Traffic said in a statement earlier this year.
In June, Dr Susan Lieberman, director of WWF International’s Species Programme, said: “The sight of ivory openly and illegally on sale in many African cities is likely to be a far more powerful encouragement to those contemplating poaching and smuggling, than a strictly controlled one-off sale. The only way to end elephant poaching is through an effective clampdown on illegal domestic ivory markets.”
Traffic said that China had gained approval to buy ivory in the latest legal sale because it had convinced Cities that it had acted successfully against its own illegal domestic market. Tom Milliken, director of TRAFFIC East/Southern Africa said: “Now China should help other countries do the same, especially in Central Africa where elephant poaching is rampant and Chinese nationals have been implicated in moving ivory out of the region.”
Sources: AFP, BuaNews, Traffic, Cites, BBC
Worldwide Blogger Bake Off
October 27, 2008
Posted in Lifestyle
The Worldwide Blogger Bake Off is a campaign of Breadline Africa that aims to raise $1-million for poverty alleviation in Africa. Breadline Africa will use the donations they receive to convert shipping containers into community kitchens in poor communities.
Why join? Well, Breadline Africa says: “Other than the overwhelming sense of satisfaction from lending a helping hand, the new snazzy container kitchen could be named after you or your blog as well as a Amazon voucher worth $500.”
Want to join in? Go to the Worldwide Blogger Bake off website for more info.
My contribution will be to match the R90 donated by the Cape Town Oracle, who tagged me. And I will contribute a recipe for Mandazi because they remind me of many happy months spent travelling around East Africa and the hospitality of the people there. I’m not going to tag anybody. I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether you want to join in or not.
News in brief
October 27, 2008
Posted in Green News
- Rebels have taken over the headquarters of the Virunga National Park, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, which is home to more than a quarter of the world’s 700 remaining mountain gorillas. [AFP].
- A previously unknown coral reef has been discovered in the Seychelles, south of Curieuse Island. There are plans to establish a centre of marine research on the island. [ScienceDaily]
- Vegetarians have been listed as one of a number of groups using Twitter as a “social activism tool” in a draft US army intelligence report that looks at the potential use of mobile and web technologies by “militants”. [AFP]
Who’s who in the world of electric cars
October 26, 2008
Posted in Transport
At the beginning of the year the electric car seemed but a distant dream. But in the past few months there’s been a rash of announcements about new electric cars – even a South African one. We’ve compiled a list of 12 + a plug-in hybrid that we’ve found on the Internet of late. It’ll be interesting to see how many of these make it to market.
Tesla Roadster
The ultimate electric sports car, apparently owned by the likes of George Clooney, started to roll off the production line in July. It goes from 0 to 100kph in about 4 seconds, has a top speed of about 200kph and can go for about 400km on one charge – as long as you don’t drive it like a sports car. Tesla Motors says that about 1,200 people have already paid a deposit to reserve the $100,000 car.
The company has announced that it plans produce a five-passenger luxury sedan powered by a lithium-ion battery pack. The Model S is expected to roll off the assembly line in late 2010.
Venturi Volage
This fully electric babe magnet that was at the Paris Motor Show recently goes from 0-100 in less than 5 seconds. Its top speed is said to be about 250kph and it has a range of 300km (but not at top speed, I’m sure). It looks like it’s planned for production in 2012. Read more at Inhabitat and Venturi Volage.
Chryser Dodge EV
Inhabitat also featured Chrysler’s Dodge EV recently. It says it does 0 to 100kph in five seconds flat, its top speed is about 190kph, and a single charge could last up to 320km – in city driving.
Electric Porsche
The E-Ruf Porsche electric Model A is an all-electric concept car based on the Porsche 997. It’s being made by Ruf Automobile GmbH, a German automotive company that tunes Porsches. To get the low-down, visit Road and Track, they took it for a spin and posted lots of pictures. Treehugger also wrote about it.
Mini E
BMW’s electric Mini, which will make its global debut next month at the Los Angeles motor show, will have a range of more than 240km. It goes from 0 to 100 km/h in 8.5 seconds and its top speed is 152kph. It will go for 240km on one charge. The MINI E will initially be made available to select private and corporate customers as part of a pilot project in the US states of California, New York and New Jersey. Read more on CNN and Market Watch
Pininfarina B0 (B-Zero)
This little car, which is my personal favourite, was also unveiled at this year’s Paris Motor Show. It has a range of 240km and an electronically limited top speed of about 130kph and goes from 0 to 60kph in a time of 6.3 seconds. Read about it on EcoGeek and CarTech. And you can go to Pininfarina’s website to see more pictures. The roof has integrated solar panels and the inside is quite lovely.
Smart Fortwo EV
DaimlerChrysler has produced an all-electric version of the Smart Fortwo and will run a market trial for the car in the UK, leasing it to select corporate customers. It goes 0-60 kph in about 6.5 seconds and a top speed of about 110kph. London’s metropolitan police are even driving them. See also Green Car Site and LeftlaneNews,
Tata Indica EV
Indian car manufacturer Tata has announced that it will be selling an all-electric car based in the Indica hatchback (pictured above) in Norway in 2009 and then in India in 2010. The electric Indica can go from 0 to 60kph in “less than 10 seconds” and it can go for about 190km on a single charge. There is talk of an electric version of the Tata Nano being on the cards, as well. Read more at EcoGeek and Cleantech. See pictures of the Indica EV prototype that was launched at the SIAM show in India in September at Cubi[CC]apacity
Lumeneo Smera
This one’s pretty unusual-looking, but it does have a certain French elegance. It’s been designed to deal with congested roads and to be easy to park. It seats two people and is, quite remarkably, only 80cm wide. Athough you wouldn’t think it to look at it, the car’s top speed is 130kph, it goes from 0 to 100kph in 8 seconds and it has a range of 150km. I found it on Inhabitat. See more pics on Lumeneo’s website.
Reva
REVA is a battery electric vehicle made by the Reva Electric Car company in India. It is a hatchback and can apparently seat two adults and two children. t’s been commercially available for a while. It is designed for low speed, congested, urban conditions and is classified as a quadricycle (category L7e) under UK and European law. In the UK it’s sold as the G Wiz. More on Wikipedia.
Citroen C Cactus
This car debuted as a concept hybrid that could apparently do “100 miles to the gallon” but a concept Cactus electric car was unveiled at this year’s Paris motor show. The interior of this car is quite something. Go to Citroen’s website for some pictures and Smart Planet has written about it. Like the hubcaps.
Joule
Nearly last but not least is South Africa’s very own Joule electric car. We’ve written about it quite a bit already on this site, but briefly: it goes from 0 to 100kph in 15 seconds; it’s top speed is 130kph and it can go for 400km on a single charge when fitted with two batteries.
Chevy Volt
This one’s not really a totally electric car, it’s more of a plug-in hybrid, although GM doesn’t seem to like to call it that. It has a range of about 60km on the onboard battery, enough for the average American commute, but a conventional engine kicks in for longer journeys. See the Chevrolet website for more info and pics.
Organic farming could feed Africa, says UN report
October 23, 2008
Posted in Food, Green News
The potential of organic farming to meet Africa’s growing food needs may have been underestimated. Britain’s Independent reports that a new study by the UN Environment Programme, which it says was released yesterday, shows that organic farming methods have increased crop yields by up to 128 percent in East Africa and provided much-needed income boosts for small farmers.
The UN’s findings provide a counterargument to increasing calls for genetically modified crops and industrial agriculture on the continent in the face of the global food crisis. Organic farming is seen by many as a Western lifestyle choice rather than a practical solution to feed Africa’s many hungry mouths. [See UK government's former chief scientist David King's remarks on the subject in the Guardian]
Read the full report on the Independent
Sun, wind and cellphones in remote areas
October 22, 2008
Posted in Renewable energy
Ericsson has unveiled a new wind-powered radio base station concept that could support mobile communication in areas with no or limited access to the electricity grid, says the company. The wind-powered Tower Tube houses base station and antenna in a fully enclosed concrete tower. It has a smaller footprint and lower environmental impact than traditional steel towers, says Ericsson. Its power consumption is 40 percent lower than traditional bases station sites and this helps operators reduce their operating costs significantly, says the company.
The wind-powered Tower Tube has a four-blade turbine with five-meter blades vertically attached to the tower. Ericsson is working with Vertical Wind AB and Uppsala University in Sweden to develop the concept and trials will be conducted to determine if the wind-powered Tower Tube enables low-cost mobile communication, with reduced impacts on both the local and global environment, the company says in a press release.
Village Solar Chargers in Africa
Ericsson and Sony Ericsson have codeveloped a solar charger for mobile phones that has been shipped to 12 Millennium Village clusters in Africa, as part of a project with Columbia University’s Earth Institute and the Millennium Villages project aiming to lift rural African communities out of extreme poverty.
Mobile phones are contributing to economic development in the developing world but the biggest problem in rural areas is charging the phone, says Mats Pellbäck Scharp, Sony Ericsson’s director of environment and supplier quality assurance. “People often have a phone but need to walk for miles to get it charged.”
The Ericsson Village Solar Charger is built on standard components and can be used for all types of mobiles. It uses a 0.7 square metre solar panel connected to a rack where eight mobiles can be charged at the same time. A 12-volt lead-acid battery makes charging possible at night. The charger is capable of recharging at least 30 mobile phone batteries a day, all year round. It can also be used for other types of load, such as powering computers, lights or TV sets, says Ericsson.
New carbon footprint calculator for cellphones launched by WWF
October 22, 2008
Posted in Green tips, Lifestyle
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has launched an easy-to-use carbon footprint calculator for cellphones in partnership with BULKSMS.com – the first of its kind in South Africa.
Called MyCO2Print, it is far simpler than the carbon footprint calculators on the web, says Carolyn Cramer of the WWF. “This is intentional. We wanted a tool which would enable South Africans to measure their carbon footprint in terms of travel and energy use and to try to improve it on a monthly basis.”
MyCO2 footrprint asks just five easy questions:
- how many people there are in your household;
- how many kilometres a month your household drives and in what kind of car (small, medium or large);
- what’s your household air travel in kms;
- how much you spend a month on electricity; and
- how many kgs of gas you use.
It will then calculate how many kgs of carbon your household produces per month; how much carbon you as a member of that household contribute per month, which you can compare to an average user; and what your approximate cost to the environment is per month in rands. (This calculation is based on figures derived from the Stern Report, the WWF says.) Then it’ll tell you whether you’re doing well or not and offer a useful energy saving tip.
A very handy feature is that it remembers your data so next time you use the calculator you can compare your results, this is a quick and easy way to measure how lifestyle changes you and your family make benefit the environment.
The WWF hopes the MyCO2Print will appeal to young people in particular. “We envisage school teachers using it as a innovative tool in the classroom to educate on climate change and the environment,” says Cramer.
To try out the MyCO2Print calculator, sms CO2 to 34017. Your phone must be wap-enabled. SMSs are charged at R2.00.
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